Might not mean much but I just hit 3k MMR! (5-position support tips inside.)

So, here's my dotabuff.

And here's just the ranked games.

So. I play a lot of solo offlane - but most recently 5 position support.

Windrunner, Crystal Maiden, Silencer.

Windrunner is great because she's actually quite durable (windrun so good, people usually don't focus you in fights, you can shackle anyone - or two people together - who try to fuck with you in fights. Shackle is a 5 second stun basically, which is so good in fights/ganks, powershot to secure kills or defend highground, and an ultimate which goes through BKB that lets you scare someone away from the fight lest they take millions of damage.

Crystal Maiden is great because her first ability is a slow/attack slow/damage, meaning it's ok in fights/ganks to help your team catch up. Frostbite is awesome because you can jungle with it whenever you have downtime and also lock people down in fights (interrupt tps or channels). And her passive makes your team who don't understand mana conservation a lot less reliant on regen. CM + Bristleback + Undying on the team is usually a won game, people just can't deal with it in lanes.

Silencer is amazing because his AOE manaburn makes people use their shit too soon, or flat out wrongly, so spells end up on CD that shouldn't even be used. His Glaives are the single strongest thing I've ever seen in lategame. They hit so hard and it's pure damage. It doesn't pierce BKB though. :c The silence/disarm is cute because people can't for example - touch your team in a chrono, or a duel. And global silence just makes everything awkward for everyone lategame.

Some top tips or so;

  • If the lane ever leaves 600-800 units from your tower, pull, and either stack the pull camp first or pull through to the second camp to completely deny the wave. Don't do no pussy ass half-pull, that's actually worse than not pulling.

  • Stack. All the fucking time. 1:45 leave the lane, stack at 1:53, secure rune at 2:00 for example. Don't leave the lane at 1:50 because it's too late. Let the core get some XP.

  • Don't touch the fucking creeps. Don't even deny unless you know it's fine. Just let the carry be in their own world with all the creeps, if you randomly deny sometimes you might either

1) Scare the carry into last hitting to early because he's used to shit supports who steal.

2) Carry tries to deny, you already did it, autoattack procs, and he hits a creep and misses a last hit.

Just leave the creeps alone.

  • Gank. Leave your core when you think he's safe (or hopeless) and try to secure another lane. Smoking is advised, but not always necessary. Go to secure a rune, turn it into a gank if it's a haste or invis is usually easy enough.

  • Carry TP. Always be ready to help anyone being diver. Especially Windrunner who can shackle from downtown and powershot from across the street.

  • Be awake. Check the lanes, see if they're ok, predict dives and TP before shit gets scary for your offlaner.

  • Wards will never. EVER. Be in stock. Fuck your Magic Wand, fuck Arcanes, fuck bracer, wards are top priority. Ping your friends to come ward with you so you don't feed.

  • Don't feed. End every game with minimal deaths. Try to call your own missings even if mid doesn't, watch their lane for them, don't rely on the team to look after themselves.

  • Call missing. Offlaner dies? Call it. Offlane goes for rune? Call it. Better safe than sorry. Nobody died from playing too safe ever.

  • Transition. You did your job, map is dewarded for them, warded for you, and they're losing. Get some farm now from empty lanes, or the jungle, try to become a factor in the lategame.

  • Deward. Buy sentries whenever applicable and just fuck with wards. Put them in usual spots (radiant hill near ancients, roshan area, etc). Best case you rape the enemy vision, worst case you lose some gold.

  • Always buy 1 extra tp and drop it from stash in fountain. Some shitstick will always need it, and they won't have calculated their gold to save for it. Just have it there in case a land feeds like mid and they need to get back. Replenish it as it disappears.

  • Don't flame. People do dumb shit, you do too, just let them get on with it. Positive reinforcement by encouraging all good plays and being silent about the bad ones. Anyone starts flaming just mute them and advise the team to do also.

  • Objectives. Always have a purpose. Always be -doing- something. Never sit afk in lane leeching xp, just go stack, or sit on the rune, or make a shitty gank mid. Even if you don't kill them just attack at their regen.

/r/DotA2 Thread Link - i.imgur.com